McNamara's side scored 102 points to France's 10 over the two autumn internationals, yet the England coach believes Saturday's opponents have drastically improved since then.

"All the signs suggest, with the way Catalans Dragons are progressing as a club and with the number of French players that they are developing themselves, that they [France] are going to be a threat moving forward," said McNamara.

"I think France are going to be a really tough team, they stood up to them [Samoa] and fronted up. It was pretty brutal at times. They were brave and pretty heroic under some real pressure. They are dangerous opposition for us. Those results [last November] have gone. I know they are disappointed that they haven't scored some more tries but structurally they look in good nick."

France, however, were fortunate to beat Papua New Guinea 9-8 following a terrible penalty miss from David Mead in the closing stages. They were then thrashed 48-0 by New Zealand and beaten 22-6 by Samoa.

McNamara added: "Looking at France you can definitely see what they are trying to do and they've got some personnel who can be threats. I was at the Papua New Guinea game and it was an ugly sort of game, they got bashed a bit against New Zealand but I think there were signs that it wasn't quite as bad as that, and they competed very hard against Samoa.

"We are expecting them to improve and be even more of a threat with the ball this week. Certainly in the quarter-finals it's winner-takes-all and the loser goes home."McNamara has no injury concerns going into the game against France and appeared in positive spirits after the victory over Fiji. It has not been the easiest time for the coach following a series of controversial incidents throughout the World Cup, yet he admitted he was pleased with the half-back combination of Kevin Sinfield and Rangi Chase against Fiji, a pairing that has previously come in for criticism.

"I was really surprised these questions were raised, I think they've been really good for a long period of time, I think they've had the chance to be consistent with each other and that certainly helps in terms of the combination. I am pleased with Kevin and Rangi but also with the contribution of the others," said McNamara.

"We have some pretty dynamic combinations, plenty of options in those areas. We're producing points and scoring points."